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    Dear Parent(s) and Guardian(s),

    Welcome to Kindergarten!

    I am looking forward to a fantastic year of fun and learning with your child! I am very excited to start a new year of academic excellence. As a student in my classroom, your child will have many opportunities to grow in academic, social, and character development areas. I want to do my best to give each student the skills he or she will need to succeed in first grade and continuing on in his/her educational journey. I believe that each student can and will gain knowledge and I will work hard to ensure achievement for your student.

    Keeping You Involved

     

    Communication Folders, Behavior, and Money

     

    One aspect of my teaching philosophy is keeping you, the parent(s) involved in our learning process as much as possible. It is my intent to send home weekly newsletters informing you of our upcoming subject area topics, Virginia Standards of Learning covered, homework assignments, and important dates. Your child will have a communication folder that is sent home daily. There will be a monthly calendar inside indicating your child’s behavioral performance each day. I will be using a color-coded system to display student behavior (see attached). I will indicate a color on his or her folder daily to keep you aware of his/her behavior choices for the day. My behavior system is based on rules and your child’s choices of whether to follow those rules or not. I believe this system will help show students that life is based on choices and those choices render consequences, both good and bad. Attached you will find the rules for my classroom and the consequences and rewards your child will receive for his or her choices. Please look at your child’s folder and remove papers daily. There will be a Ziploc bag included in the folder; these bags are for holding breakfast, lunch, and ice cream money. It is IMPORTANT that the money be placed in this bag so the teacher will know exactly what was sent to school. Please label all money placed in the baggie for example: $2.05 Lunch. We also do ice cream ONLY ON FRIDAYS for $.75. This will guarantee the teacher and Cafeteria Manager know what your child’s money is to go toward purchasing. I would also encourage you to pay for breakfast and lunch by the week or month in order to minimize daily handling of money. Other items such as notes, homework, forms, school calendars, menus, and announcements may be found in this folder. Completed and graded work will be sent home every few days for your review. Please go over this work with your child and discuss what we have been learning together. You will be pleasantly surprised at the knowledge he/she is gaining!

    Snack

    Each day your child will have the opportunity to have an afternoon snack. Each child must bring their own snack and cannot share with the other students. Please be informed that some students may have health issues in the room and the other students need to know that their snack is for them and no one else. If your child’s birthday is during the month and you would like to provide a special treat, you are welcome to do so! Please keep in mind because of allergies that it is school policy to only bring in STORE BOUGHT treats and bring NO HOMEMADE items. The nurse will check all items brought in if any children have health issues to be sure all students are kept safe. I prefer to have special treats during our lunch period to make sure the students have plenty of time to enjoy them. Just send a note to let me know when you would like to bring in special treats.

    Creating an Educational Community and Family

    We must all work together to ensure that your child has the most thorough learning experience possible. If your child is experiencing behavioral or academic difficulties, you will be notified. Thank you in advance for your support. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.  You may call school at 562-3007 and I will return your call at my earliest convenience or you may contact me by email at brandig@southampton.k12.va.uswhich I will check on a daily basis in the morning when I arrive to school and in the evenings after the students are dismissed. I will also have a class website that will be updated weekly with newsletters that get sent home and homework, that website can be accessed through the Southampton County Public Schools Website.

    I am expecting great things from your student! We are going to have a phenomenal year!

    Sincerely,

    Mrs. Brandi D. Gray

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Whole Brain Teaching Rules and Classroom Procedures

    1.  Follow directions quickly.

    2.  Raise your hand for permission to speak

    3.  Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

    4.  Make smart choices. (Kindness, Leadership, Courage, Invincible Grit, Creativity)

    5.  Keep your dear teacher happy.

    6.  The Diamond Rule: Keep your eyes on the target!

    Colors and Consequences

    Each student will have a star with his or her name on it. He or she will be asked to move their star to a specific color (moving up or down in steps) to indicate behavior according to the choices he or she is making. I will color the calendar in his or her folder each day indicating daily behavior. Each day the child will start out on blue and if they make super choices then they may move UP to purple.  On the other hand, if choices are in the opposite direction they move DOWN to green, then yellow, then red.  Before colors begin to move for inappropriate behavior the child is given a verbal warning. To put it into perspective I have listed the levels below:

     

    PURPLE:  Excellent, superior behavior

    BLUE:  Good behavior (Each student will start each day at this level)

    GREEN:  Warning, make better choices

    YELLOW:  Conference/rule review with teacher before recess

    RED:  Conference/rule review with teacher before recess and a note home

     

    I also give the child the chance if he or she has moved down in color to make appropriate choices and move back up to a better color.  My only rule is that if you have moved to red during the day, you may only move back up to green and you will still get a note home indicating the child was on red for their behavior but did make better choices to move back up. 

     

    Repeated disturbances or breaking rules in the school/student handbook will be immediately referred to the office.

     

    Rewards

     

    When each day is finished, I will be putting stickers on reward charts to show good behavior.  When the child fills the ENTIRE chart up then he or she may visit my treasure chest of goodies! (This consists of small toys or books.)  If the child is on purple, they will receive two stickers and if the child is on blue they will receive one sticker.  No stickers are rewarded for green, yellow, or red at the end of the day. This gives the child something to work for and lets them be responsible for their behaviors.

     

     

     

     

     

    Tips for Kindergarten Readiness

     

    ·      Read to your child.

     

    ·      Talk to your child.

     

    ·      Speak to your child in a positive way.

     

    ·      Point out what they do right.

     

    ·      Encourage imagination.

     

    ·      Allow your child to practice writing with crayons, markers, pens, pencils and sidewalk chalk.

     

    ·      Practice cutting paper with scissors.

     

    ·      Teach them the proper way to use a tissue, go to the restroom independently, and wash hands.

     

    ·      Encourage your child to sing.

     

    ·      Count everything and touch each piece as you do.

     

    ·      Cook with your child.

     

    ·      Set rules, limits, and expectations for behavior at school and be consistent.

     

    ·      Allow your child to play they learn SO much through play.